2010 was a whirlwind of a year, with many challenges, opportunities, and blessings. If you received our 2010 Christmas letter, then you have a glimpse at what our year was like.

Looking back at 2010

A great kick-off at Lotusphere; IBM even spotlighted our product in the technical keynote! (Thanks, Ed Brill)

A new product launch and continued business development; looking forward to closing some larger deals in 2011

Thankful for our consulting clients and eProductivity customers around the world. I enjoy reading the emails and letters of thanks we get. Neat to know our product is changing people's lives at work and at home.

For my blog readers, thank you for sharing and for your emails and tweets of encouragement.

Many opportunities for music for the girls, including the a handbell festival, multiple bell choirs, vocal ensembles, choirs, and orchestra. All of this was rounded off by a week of performances at The Master's College "Come Christmas Sing" events followed by a weekend of Candlelight Christmas concerts at Church and topped off by a Hallelujah Chorus sing at the mall. (It was billed as a "Flash Mob" but when thousands showed up to participate it lost its "flash" status. It was just a mob. It was still a lot of fun.

I was able to attend two knowledge management conferences and speak at one. Exciting things happening there as I test and refine some of my materials and concepts for a future book.

I taught my best class ever (Technology for business decision-making) at The Master's College. I really enjoy serving in this capacity. It's a great college with a great mission.

I did not have much time to pursue hobbies this year, but I made progress moving some of these forward to do in 2011

I am in awe of the many ways that the Lord provided for our needs this year, many times even before we knew we had a need. I am thankful for the many friends and family who helped and encouraged us in 2010.

A great year of home schooling our four girls. I so enjoy seeing my children learning and growing. I also like flirting with their teacher (don't worry, my wife doesn't mind). ;-)

After 10 years of study, Amy & Wendy each earned an Awana Citation Award. I'm very proud of them.

Emily & Kelly were baptized this year; I enjoy seeing my children delight in the Lord. Kathy and I are praying for their friends and future spouses.

Amy & Wendy turned 18 this year. I'm very proud of them and thankful for the godly women they've become.

I still can't watch Steve Martin in Father of the Bride with out getting angry (or at least frustrated). Not sure that will ever change.

My love for my wife continues to grow as we celebrate our 50th anniversary for the 21st year. So cool to be married to my best friend.

I realize how blessed I am to have a loving wife and children, great team mentors and advisors, and the most talented bunch of people to serve with at work, and an encouraging group of friends and family.

Looking forward to 2011

One of my many goals this year is to become more active on my blog and social networks. I value the learning I get from these activities and I will plan to spend more time here. Thanks to everyone that takes the time to engage.

Amy & Wendy are wrapping up their senior year of high school and are looking forward to college. I'm still getting used to the idea. A big shift from our one room school house where we've learned and laughed together for the past 18 years.

Looking forward to big enterprise sales in 2011 as more business recover from the financial downturn of the past few years.

I have a few new projects and products I hope to make progress on in the productivity/personal knowledge management space.

I'm thinking about joining either our church orchestra or choir this year. (I'm not sure the orchestra will want a Tenor Kazoo so it will probably be choir.)

I am still working my way through Janet Goldstein's Publishing Reset program for writers (Thanks, Jason for the tip!). I look forward to putting what I'm learning into practice and sharing with others through this blog.

I look forward to dating my wife and daughters more this year. They are each special to me and I am blessed to be surrounded by five lovely ladies.

I'm going to try to make 2011 a year of simplicity. I've shut down all but one server at home and I'm even simplifying the tech and apps I use at my desk. Of course, to achieve the level of simplicity I desire, I will probably have to venture into new levels of technological complexity to accomplish it. Go figure.

On the spiritual side, I'm excited to try a new approach to reading through the scriptures; I'll be using Prof Horner's Bible Reading System, a schedule of 10 parallel reading themes that promises a new perspective of God's Word. I have a new ESV translation of the Bible, a gift from Pastor Sumrall when I spoke in Manilla.

Finally, I'm looking forward to seeing how the Lord will work in my life and those of my family. Last year, we saw so many things (and those were just the ones we took the time to enumerate).

Finally, This year, I hope to be more quiet and observant as I seek to honor the Lord and serve him.

It's time to do a yearly review; clean up the old and organize myself for action 2011. Tomorrow, I will begin to reorganize my office, computer, and files for the new year.

The automobile industry is an essential part of our national economy in so many ways. The loss of the big three, as economists tell us, would have a devastating impact on our production economy.

But what about our information economy?

I'm just thinking here but as I went to Google for the umpteenth time today in support of my work, the thought occurred to me: "what would I do without Google?" I realized that in many ways, Google has be come as indispensable to me as Windows my computer or the Internet.

I used to tease my late friend, Marc Orchant, that "Search is the new UI" but that may be a truer statement than I thought. If Google were to suddenly tumble, I wonder what the impact would be on our information economy?

I'm just thinking out loud [because it's more fun than studying or processing my email].

SHOULD THE ELEVATOR DOORS FAIL TO OPEN OR THE ELEVATOR
BECOME INOPERATIVE, PLEASE DO NOT BECOME ALARMED. PLEASE USE
THE BUTTON MARKED "ALARM" TO REQUEST ASSISTANCE OR TELEPHONE
"IF FURNISHED." REMAIN IN THE CAR UNTIL ASSISTANCE ARRIVES AND
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FORCE THE DOORS OR HATCH OPEN.
(emphasis mine)

For some reason I found the contrast
between the first two sentences very funny.

Kathy and I watched one of my favorite
movies last night. We enjoy adventure, drama, and the opportunity to laugh.
When a movie provides all three, it's a real treat. Yesterday, I enjoyed
a day of nonstop greetings from friends and family. (Thank you!) It was
a wonderful way to celebrate my birthday, topped by a movie that ended
with these words:

"This world
is an uncertain realm filled with danger, honor undermined by the pursuit
of power, freedom sacrificed when the weak are oppressed by the strong.
But there are those who oppose these powerful forces, who dedicate their
lives to truth, honor, and freedom. These men are known as ..."

I love these closing words. They inspire
me to do more: to do what is right, to serve others, to imagine a different
time.

See if you can finish the sentence -
without looking it up on the internet.

Just 40 years ago, a man's home was still
his castle. As I remember, radio, TV (black and white, all 7 channels -
available up to 18 hours a day), and to some extent the rotary phone, were
the only ways for information to penetrate the castle walls quickly.

Back then, we lived in a mostly disconnected world. There was no such thing
as satellite television or satellite radio, and pagers, cell phones, personal
fax machines, and e-mail did not yet exist. Homes that had phone service
had only one line. Growing up, I remember we had a "Party line."
Two or three neighbors shared the line. (A few years ago, I had more phone
lines in my house than I had occupants. How times have changed.)

I remember once, hearing a typing sound coming from my parent's room; the
strange thing was that no one was in the room. I peeked in the room. There,
I saw a typewriter typing all by itself. (I now I that was a portable teletype
machine with an acoustic coupler - probably operating at about 50 baud.
For a young boy, it was an amazing sight.) That was 30 years ago.

Even then, technology was chipping away at the castle walls. Information
had begun to cross the castle walls in both directions. Still, it was a
trickle, by today's standards. I hesitate to think about what the "norm"
will be in five to ten years.

I have no idea where I'm going with this post; I'm not sure I even have
a point. I'll file this one under "musings."

Instant messages? We had those: An instant message was what happened when
your neighbor came over and rapped on the kitchen window to let you know
that your dog was in her rose garden again.